Four easy steps to creating loyal customers

In a rather unsurprising finding, Professional Carwashing & Detailing’s 2010 Reader Survey revealed that maintaining the existing customer base was the number one concern for carwash and detail operators last year. It’s an important goal for any small business operator — not just those in the car care industry — and especially crucial now that consumers are holding on to their dollars harder than ever.

So how can carwashes and detail shops reach this niche group and foster loyalty among their current customers? The answer is simple, according to the marketing experts PC&D spoke to, and in this article we’ll break it down into four easy steps.

Step 1: Identify the customer type
Steve Gaudreau is a carwash consultant with 20 years of experience and founder of Steve Gaudreau & Associates, LLC. In addition to his consultant experience, Gaudreau has authored two books for the carwash industry, the most recent of which is “Creating Exceptional Managers in the Car Wash Industry,” now available through Professional Carwashing & Detailing’s online bookstore at www.cminstitute.net.

Gaudreau said customers come in two distinctive groups:
1. Frequent customers. These are both loyal patrons (those who use your carwash and yours alone) and regulars who come often, but may also seek carwash or detail services at another business. 2. Infrequent customers. This group is composed of clients who use your business one once or twice a year, and as such should be treated “just like any other customer,” Gaudreau said.

It is imperative that you and your staff are able to identify customers who fall into the first group, Gaudreau said, and to give these patrons the recognition and service they deserve.

Step 2: Give them the royal treatment
Once your cashier or greeter has established that the customer is a frequent visitor, it is imperative to treat the customer in a manner that reflects his/her status as a loyal patron.

“It can be as simple as the service advisor or cashier saying, ‘Welcome back,’ or ‘Good to see you again,’” Gaudreau explained. “It can also be more elaborate if a customer is a member of a loyalty club of some type. In this case something might be said like, ‘As a member of our frequent customer club, how can I assist you today?’”

As for service, Gaudreau suggested operators consider special treatment. For example, some full-serve carwash businesses have set up a special lane just for monthly pass customers, Gaudreau said, and this service gets these customers through the wash more quickly.

He continued, “I know some exterior washes that give their loyalty club members an air freshener for free that another customer would have to pull over to the vending area, get out of their vehicle, and purchase.”

Step 3: Reward them for their loyalty
Recognizing a customer is a return visitor and treating them as such is important, but it’s not the only way to foster loyalty. Gaudreau said the biggest and the most obvious method to retain customers is to offer special pricing to frequent existing customers.

For example, Gaudreau suggested operators consider offering their customers a variety of programs which encourage repeat visits. These include:

Unlimited monthly passes;

Loyalty clubs with special discounts;

Bounce-back incentives for visits within a short period of time; and

Five-day guarantees that motivates a high percentage of customers to wash their vehicle twice in a week, etc.

“Customers of all businesses are more and more reluctant today to provide their information because of the fear of this information being stolen,” Gaudrea explained. “The best way I believe right now to do this is to set up a monthly charge program with unlimited usage of the wash per month and have the credit card automatically recharge every month for a set fee.”

He elaborated, “Frequent customers will be interested in taking the time to provide their information for something like this because it is a real service and really makes the whole experience of visiting the car wash much more convenient and less costly.”

Step 4: Avoid these costly mistakes
The final step in maintaining your current customer base and increasing the frequency of their visits is to avoid giving them any reason to stop coming to your wash or detail shop. Gaudreau said the most common reasons for losing loyalty are price increases and poor service.

“A huge one-time price increase will almost always chase off some of your most frequent customers and reduce car counts,” Gaudreau said. “If a price increase is necessary, making it as gradual as possible is recommended.”

In addition to slowing down the pace of the increase, Gaudreau also suggested that operators make an effort to explain the price increase to customers. “To do this, employees need to be prepared with an explanation and the most frequent questions they may be asked as well as answers to these questions,” Gaudreau said.

Finally, Gaudreau stressed that operators should avoid bad service at all costs. For example, watch out for long waiting times, and if there is one – offer a sincere apology. Poor customer service also includes unfriendly attitudes from your staff and poor handling of service complaints, Gaudreau said.

“Operators can avoid these mistakes with training, motivation, and ongoing management of the people that provide the service to the customers,” he continued. “This is the hardest area to control because it involves people management; however, customers are people (even though sometimes you may not feel that way), and at the end of the day, it is how your people are treated that influences how your customers will be treated.”

Kate Carr is the former editor in chief for Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine